Malevolent rumours about The King's Speech have been pedalled by rivals in an attempt to undermine the British movie's chances of winning an Oscar

Slideshow: Oscar whisperers

Colin Firth, seen here in lead role of the King's Speech, has been falsely accused by film rivals via the internet of bullying fellow actor Paul Bettany into giving up the coveted part

Photograph: Momentum

Did Colin Firth win his role as the future King George VI in The King’s Speech
— and a possible Oscar nomination with it — by bullying his fellow actor
Paul Bettany into giving up the part? Did Helena Bonham Carter, who plays
Firth’s screen wife Elizabeth, wear “blood furs” in the film? Is the script
really full of historical howlers?

In a back-handed tribute to its promising prospects at the Oscars in February,
the British drama has been targeted by Hollywood’s most ruthless
“whisperers”, studio consultants paid to undermine the chances of rival
films.

The rumours have appeared on Twitter, Facebook and blogs over the past month
but none is true. The malevolence directed at the film simply reflected its
strong position in the latest Oscar predictions. Bookmakers are offering
odds of 2-1 for The King’s Speech to win best picture. Firth is favourite to
pick up the award for best